A firm putting up a wind farm in north western Kenya said it was seeking construction tenders for a 428-km power line and four substations to connect the renewable power to the national grid.

Kenya is looking to develop "green" energy sources, such as wind and geothermal, to meet energy demand, currently at some 1 200 MW, that is growing at around 8% annually.

Lake Turkana Wind Power plans to install 360 wind turbines, each generating 850 kW, in the remote northwestern part of Kenya, approximately 600 km from the capital, Nairobi.

"The company hereby invites interested parties (high-profile transmission line and substation contracting companies from different parts of the world) to submit expressions of interest for purposes of prequalification," the company said.

The deadline for submissions of Epressions of Interest is the 5th of May 2009.

The power generated will be stepped up to 400 kV, transported by double circuit line and connected to the national electricity grid at Suswa, 70 km northwest of Nairobi.

It will then be stepped down to 220 kV and released for distribution by the Kenya Power and Lighting Company.

The firm plans to produce 300 MW by 2012 in a project whose cost could total $760-million . Once completed, it could meet about thirty percent of Kenya's total energy demand.